by nolahistoryguy | Oct 8, 2018 | 1890s, Carrollton, Streetcars
Single Truck Streetcars were common in 1901
New Orleans & Carrollton Railroad streetcars on S. Carrollton Avenue and Willow Street, 1901 (NOPL)
Single Truck Streetcars
Two Ford, Bacon and Davis single truck streetcars on S. Carrollton Avenue in 1901. Here’s the original note attached to the photo:
View of normal condition surrounding transfer point at Carrollton Ave. & Poplar [now Willow] St. from upper side of street–with rear of transfer house–showing two cars–with passengers going each way–
NO&CRR
The New Orleans & Carrollton Railroad Company owned these streetcars. The NO&CRR was the first streetcar operator in the city. They owned the St. Charles Avenue line, and its predecessors. The NO&CRR merged together with other struggling operators into New Orleans Railway and Light in 1915. That company became New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI) in 1923.
Ford, Bacon and Davis Streetcars
NO&CRR hired two young engineers from Philadelphia, Frank R. Ford and George W. Bacon to electrify their streetcar lines in 1894. As Ford and Bacon developed the electrification plan, they also also studied the electric streetcars available. While the various New Orleans companies started with single truck streetcars from Brill and others, Ford and Bacon, along with their new partner, George H. Davis, designed a new streetcar for New Orleans. Several companies accepted their design, and FB&D delivered the streetcars in 1896. Those streetcars ran from the old City of Carrollton to the Central Business District.
The Last FB&D
NORTA #29, ex-NOPSI #29, is the last FB&D streetcar. It operates now as a “sand car”. Number 29 goes out on the line when conditions are wet or icy. NORTA’s Rail Department spreads sand on the tracks to improve traction on those days.
Court Documents
Charles T. Yenni photographed these streetcars for a lawsuit. Civil District Court of Orleans parish assigned #62696 to Muller vs New Orleans and Carrollton Rail Road Co. Law firms regularly hired photographers to take pictures of accidents and other claims. Those photographs ended up in various collections at the New Orleans Public Library.
by nolahistoryguy | May 14, 2018 | Carrollton, Post-WWII, Streetcars
Carrollton Station
Carrollton Station in 1948
New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI) streetcar 813, on the ladder tracks on Jeanette Street, behind Carrollton Station. Streetcars based uptown returned to the barn by turning onto Jeanette Street from S. Carrollton Ave. They approached the barn, then turned in on one of the “ladder tracks”. Those are the tracks you see in the foreground.
Over the years, NOPSI operated several streetcar stations. By 1948, the Arabella Station on Magazine Street focused on “trackless trolleys”, or “trolley buses”. The streetcars were stored and serviced at Carrollton Station.
NOPSI 813
NOPSI 813 was a steel, arch roof streetcar. The transit company acquired the 800- and 900-series arch roofs in 1923-1924. The designer was Perley A. Thomas. Thomas worked for the Southern Car Company of High Point, North Carolina, when he created the arch roof design. New Orleans Railway and Light Company, the forerunner to NOPSI, bought arch roofs from Southern from 1910-1915. They became the 400-series streetcars.
The roll board on NOPSI 813 in this photo indicates it operated on the Tulane Belt on this day.
Southern Car Company folded in 1916. So, Thomas started his own company in the wake of the closure. He refined the design and NOPSI placed an large order in 1923. Thomas subcontracted some of the construction to other companies. The arch roof streetcars roll along the St. Charles Avenue line to this day.
800s and 900s
While the arch roofs were similar, the main visible difference between the 800 and 900 series streetcars was the doors. On the 800s, the doors were manual. The motorman (front) and conductor (rear) had to manually operate the doors, like a school bus driver, with a big mechanical handle. On the 900 series streetcars, the doors were powered, so the motorman could just hit a switch.
In 1964, when NOPSI discontinued the Canal Street line, the company kept 35 of the green arch roof streetcars. They were all from the 900 series. A few of the 800s were sold to private concerns like trolley museums, but most were cut in half and destroyed.
by nolahistoryguy | Jun 24, 2017 | 1920s-1930s, Carrollton, Neighborhoods, Streetcars
Uptown Backatown lines connected downtown to the universities.
Uptown Backatown – Commuter Lines
The S. Claiborne line began operation in 1915. New Orleans Railway and Light Company was the city’s transit operator then. The S. Claiborne line’s route, 1915-1916:
Outbound
- Canal Street at Carondelet
- Inbound on Canal (1 block) to St. Charles Avenue
- Right turn onto St. Charles, up to Howard Avenue.
- Howard Avenue to S. Rampart
- S. Rampart to Clio
- Clio to S. Claiborne
- S. Claiborne up to Broadway
- Broadway to the end of the line at Maple Street
Return
- From Maple Street, Broadway to S. Claiborne
- S. Claiborne to Erato
- Erato to Carondelet
- Carondelet to Canal
After 1916, the S. Claiborne line was extended. Instead of ending on Broadway, it ran all the way to S. Carrollton Avenue. Carrollton and Claiborne was an important corner/hub for street rail. The St. Charles/Tulane belt stopped at S. Claiborne, and the Orleans-Kenner Railroad’s interurban service came into New Orleans at this corner.
Uptown Growth
As the backatown neighborhoods grew, the streetcar lines that connected them grew as well. NORwyLT initially operated the single-truck Ford, Bacon, and Davis streetcars. The 800/900 series arch roof streetcars ran on S. Claiborne after 1923. Tulane and Loyola students, as well as New Orleanians attending sporting events at Tulane Stadium used the S. Claiborne line as an alternative to St. Charles.
I’m not sure about the original source of the photo above. It’s NOPSI 964 at the end of an outbound run on S. Claiborne.
NOPSI 964 advertises Luzianne Coffee on this run. Luzianne coffee and tea is one of the brands from Reily Foods. Reily also makes/sells CDM and French Market Coffee.
Streetcar operations on S. Claiborne were discontinued in favor of bus service in 1953. Around the same time, belt service on St. Charles and Tulane was discontinued. The Tulane line was converted to bus service, and St. Charles began point-to-loop operation, running from S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne, down S. Carrollton to St. Charles, then looping around Carondelet and St. Charles in the CBD. Today, the corner of S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne is still a transit hub, but two of the three lines are buses.
Route information source: The Streetcars of New Orleans by Louis C. Hennick, E. Harper Charlton.
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